His grandmother, Lloyd Dean Gower, watched her grandson take his first flight lesson.

She said earlier in the morning she was reading the story in the Globe-News about the scheduled landing when her daughter called to tell her about the tragedy.

Gower said she has been friends with Husband's family for 30 years.

"He was just a good, good man with a good background and a wonderful family background," Gower said. "I don't know of one person that is not devastated that knew him."

Mark Turner, who works in airport operations at Tradewind Airport, has a matted display of memorabilia from Husband's first trip to space in 1999.

The display, which Husband gave the airport, includes a small American flag and the official mission patch that Husband carried on the mission.

"We're the only airport in the country he did that for because he learned to fly here," Turner said.

Turner said he has worked at Tradewind for 24 years, starting about the time Husband was taking flight lessons.

Turner said he didn't meet him until he was at an air show at Tradewind in 1996.

"He was just one of the most likable guys you'd ever meet, just sure of himself," Turner said. "You couldn't imagine him having an enemy of any kind. He was the kind of person that you'd gather around."